• After four weeks of work in the Antarctica, Dr Raúl Cordero and Dr Alessandro Damiani, both researchers at the Department of Physics of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, were able to confirm that the extension of the hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctica reached more than 10 million km² in December 2015, i.e. more than twice the average of that period in the past three decades.

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The measurements were carried out during a campaign in the Antarctic Circle in the context of the Antarctic Scientific Expedition of the Chilean Antarctic Institute (Inach, in Spanish). Dr Raúl Cordero and Dr Alessandro Damiani, both professors at Universidad de Santiago de Chile, were part of the expedition.

The ozone measurement campaign at the Antarctica started on November 15^th and it continued until mid-December. Four researchers at Universidad de Santiago travelled to the heart of the White Continent, where about 600 kg of the best radiometric equipment available were sent.

The expedition was supported by Inach, what allowed the researchers to work at “Unión Glacier” Joint Polar Research Station located at 79 degrees South latitude, at about 1000 from the South Pole.

Constant monitoring

In spite of the negative results of this year, Dr Cordero expects that a process to recover the ozone layer starts in the short term, as a result of the actions taken worldwide to reduce the emissions of polluting gases. However, the information gathered highlights the need of adopting mitigation policies and conducting a constant monitoring of the area.

According to Dr Cordero, “the ozone layer depletion is mainly caused by the presence of ‘ozone destroying” chemicals in the polar stratosphere. These substances are generated by the industrial activity in mid-latitudes.”

Although these substances are everywhere in the planet, high latitudes are the most impacted areas by the layer depletion or destruction, particularly the Antarctica. During the southern spring, this area is affected by a massive destruction of the stratospheric ozone as a result of the particular weather conditions there.

According to the researcher, the ozone depletion process between September and December is favored by the low temperatures in the Antarctic stratosphere and by the Antarctic polar vortex that prevents the ozone from other latitudes from closing the hole.

“When temperatures increase at the end of spring, the ozone massive depletion stops and the weakening of the polar vortex allows the ozone from other latitudes to close the hole. The bad records this year are probably the result of unusually low stratospheric temperatures during last spring,” Dr Cordero said.

Recovery of the ozone layer

In spite of the negative results of this year, Dr Cordero expects that a process to recover the ozone layer continues until the middle of this century due to the actions taken worldwide to reduce the emissions of polluting gases. However, the information gathered highlights the need of adopting mitigation policies and conducting a constant monitoring of the area.

It is also worth to mention that this study included comparisons with databases of other months. According to this, the hole in the ozone layer reached 28 million km² in October, the fourth highest record since the satellite data is available. 

Dr Cordero also highlights the relation between ozone depletion and climate change. “The changes in the hole in the ozone layer could affect the energy balance of the Antarctica. Ozone depletion or exhaustion has affected the temperature of the stratosphere and it correlates with wind and surface temperature variations detected in the Antarctica in the past decades. Therefore, a better understanding of the relation between climate change and the hole in the ozone layer is required. This is the ultimate goal of our work,” he concluded.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The purpose of the study conducted by Juan Fernando Mejía Calle, who graduated from a M.A. program of Universidad de Santiago, is that companies are able to automatically identify features in sophisticated files that are not recognized by common antivirus software. In this way, it will possible to manage the problem step by step and take remedial actions to be better prepared in the future.

John opens a file in his computer at work, and, unintentionally, he ends up infecting all databases in his company. How can he determine whether that file is effectively malicious or not? Although some of these pieces of software can only be detected by antivirus software, malicious codes evolve continuously until they cannot be recognized, making difficult to avoid them.

In this context, a model that allows to automatically detect the features of a malicious software or malware and then follow steps to combat them, taking remedial actions, was the result of a study conducted by Juan Fernando Mejía Calle, who graduated from the M.A. program in Security, Forensics and Auditing of IT Processes of Universidad de Santiago de Chile. Mejía Calle is an Ecuadorian expert, holder of a scholarship of the Government of his country to study this program.

His work, “Modelo de proceso para análisis, caracterización y clasificación de archivos ejecutables potencialmente maliciosos en un entorno organizacional con sistema operativo Windows,” will be a contribution to both the companies affected by these attacks and the organizations in charge of cyber forensics.

The study suggests a process to capture malware evidence based on the features of different types of programs, providing information “that allows to know if the file got connected to another site, executed other programs or became self-executable or if it got encrypted,” Mejía explained. After that, the files analyzed can be classified as clean or malicious.

“According to what I have studied, there is not any standard model for this purpose. Each author suggests a pattern based on his/her experience,” Mejía says. To conduct this study, he reviewed literature on malware and registered the features that he considered relevant to define it.

The model that he presented showed an effectiveness of 92% using the cross-validation method.

Mejía says that cyber-attacks in Chile are increasingly sophisticated. “New malware attacks or zero-day attacks can infect a computer because they have not been recognized yet. This type of attack cannot be prevented, but it can be analyzed to take future remedial actions,” he says.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Universidad de Santiago was among the four national universities that will receive more funds from the National Fund for the Scientific and Technological Development (Fondecyt, its acronym in Spanish), according to the results of the 2014 Contest. Universidad de Chile, Universidad Católica and Universidad de Concepción were the other three universities.

• María Angélica Ganga, researcher at the Technological Faculty, leads a project to make technological improvements to the Pajarete wine fermentation in Huasco Valley. The project has been funded through the Innovation for Competitiveness Fund and has allowed improving the quality of this traditional product and recovering its original properties.

It is said that Jesuits brought the Pajarete wine to the north of Chile during the 17th century. This wine is characterized by its sweet flavor and it is produced mainly from black and muscatel grapes of the northern part of the country.

In the last few years, the Pajarete production has had a significant increase due to a development plan that has allowed local producers to commercialize it in better conditions, thanks to a strategy that allowed producing a first-quality product, including appellation of origin (geographical indications).

In this process, the Atacama Regional Government and the Association of Pajarete Producers of Huasco Valley have worked together with Universidad de Santiago in a project to make technological improvements to this wine fermentation process in order to improve its competitiveness.

The project- funded through the Innovation for Competitiveness Fund of the Atacama Region- has been led by María Angélica Ganga, PhD in Biological Sciences and a researcher at the Technological Faculty of Universidad de Santiago.

The researcher says that the project focused in strengthening the Pajarete production through the microbiological control of the vinification process and the selection and identification of native yeasts.

This is how a microbial strain collection was created and yeasts with technological potential for production were obtained. Besides, a standard methodology for their use was developed and handed to wine producers.

The researcher explains that Pajarete producers contacted the University and expressed their concern for having lost part of the properties of their wine in their attempt to industrialize their process and also for using yeasts different from the ones of the Atacama Region, what led to losing part of their “terroir” (the set of characteristics that describe and define a geographic region where grapes are grown).

“So, we worked to return the organoleptic properties to the product by using yeasts from that region. Now, the fact of recovering these properties allows the producers to keep the hallmark of a wine typical of that region; it is something of their own that is not reproducible in other regions,” she explains.

Anberta Debia, a Pajarete producer and member of the Association of Pajarete Producers, considers that the most important achievement of this project is that old people at Huasco Valley identified this new Pajarete with the one that was produced in this area decades ago.

“When we started working with industrial yeasts, people did not identify themselves with the product. Now we know that everybody thinks that the wine is more tasty, more aromatic and with a more fresh-raisin flavor. The grape is reflected in a much better way and that gives us a plus,” she says.

According to the producers, now that the quality production stage has been completed the following stage is to commercialize the product.

Their first objective is to get their product distributed in Santiago and the rest of the country and then, start exporting.

Opportunities for the industry

At present, Universidad de Santiago is implementing a new project with the purpose of developing a sustainable production system to provide Pajarete producers with the amount of yeast required for the their wine making.

At the same time, the University is applying for a third project to help producers to assure the innocuousness of the product, in order to become competitive, not only at a national level, but also at an international one.

Nibaldo Guaita, who is in charge of the Production Development Area of the Atacama Regional Government, describes the work done as very positive. He says that the problem with this wine was related to the fermentation process, which affected its quality. Now he bets that Pajarete will become a premium wine.

“We want to position Huasco Pajarete producers as a national example, with a high-quality wine that can compete with other sweet wines. This product already has the best level possible and this will help to reach a better market,” he says

Nibaldo Guaita said that they have taken the Pajarete wine to different international fairs and that it has awakened interest, but on these occasions, a new big challenge has arisen: to increase the volume of production.

Translated by Marcela Contreras
 

• “Entre biología y Utopía: Semblantes Ideológicos en las Ciencias de la Vida’ is the name of the Fondecyt Initiation project led by Dr Mauricio Espósito that will allow a synergy between biomedical research, communications and their future interactions. The study will last two years and it expects to prove the importance of the relations among different disciplines.

To analyze the historical and philosophical relation between biological knowledge and its multiple political, ideological and technocratic applications: that is the goal of the Fondecyt Initiation project led by Dr Maurizio Espósito. For this purpose, the academic at the Department of Philosophy of Universidad de Santiago will review some particular cases associated to sciences of life during the 20^th and the 21^st centuries, like the development of genomics in Latin America, for example.

Dr Espósito thinks that “it is very important to understand the philosophical and political implications of biomedical research beyond preconceived criticism, superficial exaltation of science or a merely abstract debate about what is right or wrong.”

According to him, some biological disciplines were formulated since ambitious scientific policies, which principles still cross with biotechnological utopias and contemporary ideologies.

“I think that many people speak about biotechnology or technology often criticizing or glorifying technological or scientific events without really understanding them. And understanding them does not only mean knowing the technical details unique to a discipline, but also having a definite idea about the controversies, interests, concepts, institutions and ambitions of the agents under the great umbrella that we call techno-science, that involves an interdisciplinary approach,” he says.

General guidelines

In this Fondecyt Initiation project, the academic expands his research line to address different national and Latin American cases. “I need to make clear that in this project, I am not interested in criticizing scientific events or proposing philosophical morals based on science-fiction fantasies. The project seeks to link up biotechnological research with the help of the history of science and the interdisciplinary tools given by the studies on science, technology and society,” he adds.

Among the possible options to spread the project information, Dr Espósito recognizes the value of the potential debate among the different disciplines of study and he adds that different activities will be organized, in which academics and the community in general will be able to participate, discuss and think about this issues.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

•    Using secondary sludge from industrial water treatment, researcher César Huiliñir, professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, developed a new mathematical method for the biodrying process that proposes to reuse this sludge as biofuel. This technology proposal is supported by a Fondecyt Initiation Project.

After three years of work using secondary sludge from industrial water treatment, researcher César Huiliñir, professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, developed a new mathematical model for the biodrying process that proposes to reuse these residues.

The proposal is one of the results of his Fondecyt Initiation Project (11121160), “Development of a new dynamic model for batch biodrying process of dewatered sewage sludge”.

According to the researcher, the sludge disposed of by industries has 80% of water, i.e., for every kilo of sewage sludge, an amount of 800 grams of water is lost. Besides, companies have to pay for removing this waste to prevent accumulation of residues and potential odours in their facilities. For this reason, finding an alternative solution may reduce costs.

“We bet that, if we reduce the amount of water of secondary sludge, it can be fed as fuel into boilers. That is why companies like paper mills can be benefited: if this works, it will allow them to reduce removal costs. We could use that sludge, burn it, and change it into a new type of biofuel, as it has already been done in Holland and Canada, where there are specific examples of mills that have implemented similar systems,” he said.

For this purpose, professor Huiliñir and his research team proposed a mathematical model- very easy to implement- that enable a more flexible system to better predict the moisture loss in the system. Up to now, there was not literature on this factor that could effectively enhance this operation.

Results of the study

Professor Huiliñir said that another contribution of this study was the background information they were able to collect on kinetics of volatile solid residues degradation. There was not any information about this in the literature of the area.

“With this (information), we will able to know how much energy is used in the process. The higher the solids consumption, the higher the energy released to dry the sludge. This will allow predicting behaviours and evaluating without having to experiment,” he said.

He could also analyze the amount of water and energy required to remove the water content through the different stages of this degradation process. “In the study, we built an experimental design in which we established how some conditions affect the dewatering operation and how much of energy that allows water evaporation comes from the chemical reaction in the process,” he added.

In order to develop this alternative model, they worked with sludge from paper mills. Now, they are working with water treatment sludge from a slaughterhouse and a meat packing plant.

Finally, professor Huiliñir highlighted the role played by undergraduate and graduate students, who were in charge of the laboratory work to test this model. “The students’ contribution was essential. Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to develop this project and get these results,” he concluded.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• With a project that involves the use of ICTs in early teacher training, professors at the Department of Education Juan Silva and Paloma Miranda, won the first place in the international contest of the Education Sector Fund, in the "Digital Inclusion” Mode. 

Juan Silva and Paloma Miranda, both professors at the Department of Education, were awarded an international research grant by the Government of Uruguay for a project that involves the use of ICTs in early teacher training.

Professor Silva is Director of the Center for Research and Innovation in Education and ICT (CIIET, in Spanish) of Universidad de Santiago, and professor Miranda is Head of the Primary Education program at this same university.

The contest was organized by the National Agency for Research and Innovation of the National Commission for Innovation, Science and Technology (Conicyt, in Spanish) of Uruguay.

International contest

This was an international call for proposals and 34 projects were presented, but only 12 were selected for funding. The proposal of professors Silva and Miranda won the first place.

The team is made up of the two Chilean professors and Uruguayan and Spanish researchers and experts.

The project was designed to meet the need of developing digital skills, both to teach and to learn using ICTs, during early teacher training, so that future teachers are able to successfully include ICTs in their professional activities.

The development of these skills should be constantly evaluated to make improvements and promote institutional policies in this matter.

Objectives

The objective of the project is to compare the level of performance on digital skills - for teaching and learning- of final-year students at early teacher training programs in higher education institutions in Uruguay and Chile, and generate recommendations to enhance the inclusion of ICTs in this stage of training. The results will be shared with other countries of the region.

Particularly in Latin America, empirical studies on the subject are scarce. There is evidence of public policies for the inclusion of ICTs in early teacher training and examples of good practices, i.e., if policies and their orientations are defined, and what the institutions are doing in this regard.

Besides, there are proposals for models and standards and studies on how students perceive the inclusion of ICTs in early teacher training, considering the technology available, the use of technologies by students and teachers, among others.

However, in spite of the above, there is not any study that reports on the level of performance on digital skills of students at teacher training programs. 

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The project involves the use of ICTs in early teacher training

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr Bernardo Morales Muñoz, director of the Laboratory of Neuroscience of Universidad de Santiago, is leading a project that seeks to reverse the effects of this type of disorder and enhance the memory and learning process. The chemical derives from the alkaloid sauroine synthesized by Huperzia saururus and it would allow to combat disorders like Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease.

Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by cellular aging and neuronal death. This has led scientists to study different possibilities to reverse or reduce their effects on patients. One of these studies is being conducted at the Laboratory of Neuroscience of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, as Dr Bernardo Morales Muñoz explains.

A research group is working on a chemical compound that helps to enhance the memory and learning process, which therapeutic use would reverse the effects of neurodegenerative diseases. “For example, in the case of Alzheimer’s, when there are little neurons left, this compound could activate them and counteract the memory loss,” Dr Morales says.

The compound is derived from sauroine, an alkaloid synthesized by Huperzia saururus, a plant popularly known as cola de quirquincho that grows in the Andes, in Argentina. Its benefits could be applied to other disorders like Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease.

Side effects and environmental considerations

The study is part of a joint project with Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, where they started modifying the compound chemically. “In Argentina, an excellent research group chose us to continue with the following research stage because we have specialized in memory and learning,” he says.

One of the main problems in the process to develop drugs is that large amounts of raw material are required, having an impact on the environment. “The idea is to isolate the compounds, understand them and be able to modify them chemically in order to enhance their effects. Then, we should be able to synthesize them, leaving behind the environmental concerns.”

Another aspect that should be considered is that people prefer more natural drugs, because they think that artificial drugs can have more serious side effects in comparison to drugs derived from natural compounds.

National and international patents

In Chile, Universidad de Santiago de Chile has already filed a patent request to protect the rights and future commercialization of the product. “We pretend to file patent requests abroad too, particularly in England, where some companies have shown interest in the project,” Dr Morales explains.

Although Dr Morales recognizes that more tests are required, the study has progressed well. “There are mouse models of Alzheimer, so the next step is to test the compound in them,” and then, the compound will be tested in human beings. The researchers think that they will produce an oral drug, as it would be more comfortable to use.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Patricio Flores, PhD in Biotechnology, and Yu-Wen Tang, student at the Master´s program in Technology Management- Major in Biotechnology, both from the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, were awarded a grant to develop a strategy for marketing an enzyme that has multiple benefits for diagnosing diseases.

As a result of the work they did for a doctoral dissertation and after being granted funds through the “Go To Market, de la Idea al Mercado” Contest organized by Corfo (the Chilean Economic Development Agency), the researchers will get trained in Silicon Valley, in the context of the third stage of the project “Developing a strategy for marketing a highly stable glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) enzyme.”

The project, which was developed under the guidance of Dr. Jenny Blamey, associate professor at Universidad de Santiago, proposes replacing the bovine GLDH enzyme with one from an Antarctic extremophilic microorganism (capable of resisting extreme conditions of temperature, pH, pressure, salinity, among others), which does not have the deficiencies of its predecessor. Its most common application is in the area of clinical laboratories where it is used for diagnosing hepatic and renal diseases

According to researcher Patricio Flores, “having discovered this new enzyme, glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH), improves the half-life of five different types of diagnostic kits, as its thermal stability is higher than the one of the enzyme used today.” The academic stresses that “what is most important is that it also solves the problem of low half-life of the “old” diagnostic kits, preventing from discarding expired kits that have not been used, improving result reliability, lowering costs, reducing losses for companies and enabling a stock available to give a quick answer to market requirements.”

“The new enzyme is much more stable. It can be stored at room temperature, keeping more than 85% of its activity for 50 days. On the other hand, the bovine enzyme completely loses its activity under the same conditions,” Dr. Flores explains, regarding the results of this project that involves Universidad de Santiago and Fundación Científica y Cultural Biocencia.

Go To Market

“Go To Market, de la Idea al Mercado” is an initiative that seeks to identify research studies conducted at universities, technological centers and Chilean companies that have generated technologies that could potentially benefit the global market.

“The application process for the Corfo’s Go to Market Contest coincided with the last steps to finish my doctoral dissertation in which I developed the product prototype, that is to say, the GLDH enzyme from an Antarctic thermophilic microorganism,” Dr, Flores says.

At present, the project is at its third stage, which involves getting training at the Standford Research Institute (SRI), scheduling meetings with investors and interested clients and developing a marketing strategy to position the product in the market. These will be the activities that the two researchers will have while they stay in USA.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The Food Science and Technology Research Center of Universidad de Santiago was awarded a public bid called by Junaeb to evaluate the quality and safety of food rations provided by schools at the Metropolitan Region. According to Claudio Martínez, the Director of the Center, “this shows that our accredited laboratories and our professionals are able to face challenges that involve high responsibilities.”

In December 2013, the laboratories of the Food Science and Technology Research Center of Universidad de Santiago (CECTA; in Spanish) were accredited by the National Institute for Standardization.

On August 1st, for the first time after this official certification, CECTA was awarded an important bid called by the National Board of Student Aid and Scholarships (Junaeb, in Spanish). As a result of this, CECTA will be in charge of analyzing the meals that are daily delivered to public schools, preschools and nursery schools in the Metropolitan Region.

Katy Yáñez, the Chief of the Physical and Chemical Analysis Laboratory and project leader, explained that samples of the food rations served for breakfast and lunch at 55 educational establishments of the Metropolitan Region and samples of 40 raw- material storage facilities will be analyzed over three months.

“At our Microbiology Laboratory and Physical and Chemical Analysis Laboratory (both with ISO 17025 accreditation), and together with an external laboratory that was subcontracted for the sample collection work, we will analyze the samples collected from food suppliers and schools in order to establish if these foods have the nutritional value and calories required and, in general, if they meet the microbiological parameters set by Junaeb,” she said.

A higher challenge

According to Claudio Martínez, Director of CECTA, the fact of being awarded this public bid called by Junaeb is “an important step for our University and for our Center, because, just to bid on this tender, being accredited as a high-scientific standard laboratory was required.”

“For a long time, CECTA has been working in strengthening its professional quality by implementing relevant policies and developing several improvements. Therefore, having been awarded this bid shows that our accredited laboratories and our professionals are able to face higher challenges that involve high responsibilities,” CECTA’s Director pointed out, adding that the following step “is just doing the high-quality scientific work that characterizes us.”


Translated by Marcela Contreras